Medical Tourism to India May Lower Bone Marrow Transplantation Costs

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Bone Marrow Transplantation: Another Draw for Health Travel

As bone marrow transplantation (BMT) becomes more integrated in the fight against deadly diseases such as leukemia and blood disorders like anemia, its affordability can mark the difference between life and death.  BMT is a critical procedure whose cost can stimulate debate over whether or not to embark upon medical tourism for the procedure to countries like India.  India eNews recently reported how an 8-year-old Ugandan boy’s life was saved with a unique transplant that was “out of the question due to the prohibitive cost [in the United States].”  The surgery’s life-line effect, combined with dramatically lower costs makes medical tourism to India very appealing for bone marrow transplantation.  The rise in health travel suggests that the question is no longer whether to have the procedure, but where to have it performed. 

Is Lack of Affordability Driving Medical Tourism to Countries Like India?

Statistics point to the prohibitive cost of BMT in the United States where the surgery can cost upwards of $200,000, as suggested by the National Bone Marrow Transplant site.  Some financial assistance, however, is offered to patients like free air transportation and grants for non-medical expenses.  These SOPs however, pale in comparison to the radical cost savings offered by medical tourism to India, where the same procedure according to garamchai.com may cost just $26,000.  Moreover, patients who don’t meet the “financial need” criteria aren’t always in the position to consider the transplant affordable, making the case for health travel even stronger.  Depending on the situation, patients who opt for medical tourism packages to India for their bone marrow transplantation may find themselves taking in the country’s sights during recovery.  Couple the vacation-like recuperation period with the seemingly minute fraction of the cost, and there is reason to believe that medical tourism to India for bone marrow transplantation may quickly become the preferred choice.